I recently conducted a webinar in which I grew annoyed with myself when I noticed that I was speaking in a strange manner. I used the word actually over and over again. It wasn’t misplaced use though. Each time I said the word it truly fit the situation. But I was very aware of the fact that in nearly every sentence I was saying the word actually. I tried to edit myself but I just couldn’t get it under control.

Never before had I noticed this behavior and yet, it was so obvious that I quickly became annoyed at myself. Here I was a professional who was supposed to be an experienced presenter and out of the clear blue I had developed what appeared to be a nervous tick of some sort; or was it?

As I replayed the day I was relieved to find that it wasn’t a nervous tick, at all. Instead, it was an indicator of the underlying issue I was trying to address in my presentation.

The topic being presented was the effective design of eLearning solutions. The goal was to help people understand that presenting information isn’t enough to ensure that employees truly learn and can apply that information. There is a big difference in being exposed to information and actually learning information. This difference is the reason I kept saying the word actually.

The truth of the matter is:

--

Many students/learners are reading, but they aren’t actually learning.

-- Many employees are performing but they aren’t actually performing well.

In short, thinking and learning are processes that can look like they’re taking place without actually taking place at all. If a learner doesn’t know how to ensure they are learning they might actually be wasting their time, energy, and resources.

What can be done to ensure this is not the case with you and your learning activities? If you want to ensure that you are truly learning what you need to learn to reach your educational and professional goals, call The College Network (1.800.395.1014) and talk to one of our representatives about what we do to help our customers learn effectively and efficiently.

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My passion for empowering learners was ignited by my experiences as a frustrated learner in middle and secondary school. There always seemed to be unanswered questions or gaps in my understanding. Eventually, I gave up my pursuit of higher learning and joined the military where I found that I excelled as a learner. Upon returning to the traditional classroom as an adult, I realized that I had overcome my learning challenges. Learning came more easily in all subjects rather than just those I enjoyed.

What changed? Why was learning now so much easier? It wasn’t until I began taking graduate courses that I found answers to questions I had never known to ask. Are there different levels of learning? How do learners know they are studying at the right level? What can learners do if the educator’s/trainer's instructional style does not align with their learning style?

For over 17 years now I have been designing and developing instructionally sound learning experiences and helping adults learn more effectively and efficiently. I also train university faculty in the development of instructional solutions that embody what is known about adult learning, human cognition, and instructional design.